UK lags Europe on PC sales

HP takes top UK spot from Dell

The United Kingdom had one of the slowest growing PC markets in Europe in the three months ended 30 September.

In total, Western Europe bought 13.8 million computers, up 17.7 per cent on last year and mainly driven by the consumer market and "back-to-school" purchases.

UK PC sales grew 13.6 per cent to 2.9 million in the third quarter of 2007 - a good number of boxes but slower growth than France or Germany, according to Gartner.

HP nudged ahead of Dell for the first time - together the two vendors account for 45 per cent of the machines sold in the UK. The business market grew slightly faster than the consumer market. Mobile PCs, or laptops, sold better than desktop machines.

Elsewhere in Europe, German computer buyers picked up 2.7 million PCs in the period, growth of 23 per cent on the same period a year ago. Fujitsu Siemens is Germany's top vendor with a 14.8 per cent share, followed by HP with 13 per cent and Acer with 12.8 per cent market share.

In France, sales grew 18.4 per cent to 2.4 million units. HP is top vendor with a 25.9 per cent share, then Acer with 17.1 per cent, and Dell takes third spot with 10.3 per cent. Mobile PCs made up 50 per cent of total French sales. ®